Tonight fall asleep swiftly and deeply as you release or stress tension and any heaviness you've been carrying. Whether you're just settling in or have woken in the night and can't get back to sleep. This practice is here to support you.
Welcome. My name is Jason Stephenson, and it's an honour to have you here. You have full permission to let go and to receive the rest.
Your mind and body are yearning for. Before we begin. Set all distractions aside.
Close your curtains if you haven't already. And let your body come to rest. Settle into a comfortable position, but you can naturally drift off to sleep.
Take a few slow, cleansing breaths at your own pace, perhaps breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. And with each conscious exhale, let your body melt into the bed that's supporting you. Give every muscle, every knot of tension.
Permission to be held and supported. Give them space to untangle. Continue to breathe naturally as you attune to your heart.
For a quiet moment. And as you sense into this area. Said a word of intention for this practice.
Your word might be peace or surrender, or compassion. Any word that feels deeply supportive for you as you rest here. This word can serve as an anchor for your mind when it wanders.
During the meditation, because it's in the mind's nature to wander. Distraction is not wrong. It's normal when your thoughts drift.
Grant your mind some compassion. Repeat your word of intention three times. Then return to my voice.
But for now. Settle your attention on your body as it rests on your bed. Feel the gentle cocoon of your mattress sheet, pillow and blanket.
With eyes closed. Sense into the roof and walls that surround you. Acknowledging their support and protection.
Breathing naturally and gently. Allow this moment to hold you with both strength and tenderness. Exactly as you are.
There is nothing to do here. There is no one to be. And there is nothing to fix or prove.
There will be plenty of time in the waking days ahead to analyze and problem solve. But now it is time to rest. Give yourself the grace to do so.
Own your attention on your breath for a few quiet moments. Breathing at your own pace. As you inhale.
Since the way your body gently expands. And as you exhale. Notice the way it naturally softens.
And see if you can notice a subtle pause between each in-breath and each outbreath. Savour those little pockets of silence and stillness. And as you breathe with every exhale, imagine your muscles melting knots of tension and any stored stress beginning to transform and drip away.
With each passing breath. Your body grows heavier yet in some way also lighter. The things that no longer serve you are beginning to depart.
Helping both mind and body to feel spacious and weightless. Now localize your attention on the very top of your head. Resting on your crown.
And sense into that space that surrounds the top of your head. Sense how still and spacious it is. How calm and quiet.
And imagine these subtle, peaceful energies permeating your scalp, as if they were very gently massaging your crown. Allow the serene frequency of the space around you to untangle any knots of tension. As your head grows both heavier and lighter.
Heavier in the sense that it's surrendering into the pillow that holds it. And lighter in the sense that it's releasing the worries and ruminations that have weighed it down. Keep your head and thinking, mind.
Permission to fully let go now. Take a few slow, steady breaths all the way up to your crown. Feel ease, warmth and spaciousness.
Illuminate your mind on the in-breath and a great softening to occur on the outbreath. Now sense into your forehead, into your cheeks, and into your whole face. Since the subtle presence of air that surrounds your skin here quietly, invisibly nurturing it.
You might also sense the way the air brushes against your nostrils with each inhale and each exhale, filling your body with nourishing, rejuvenating oxygen. And as you sense into your face in this gentle, attentive way, tension you've been holding there begins to slowly unravel. Your forehead and all the small muscles around your eyes begin to soften.
And your cheeks relax as your jaw unclench. As. Your tongue rest naturally in your mouth, and perhaps your lips part ever so slightly.
Whatever feels most natural and relaxed for you. Take a few slow, steady breaths into your relaxed face with each exhale, all stress lines soften or tension or tightness melt away. Our attention begins to melt a little further down your body, blowing along your neck.
And across your shoulders. Our shoulders tend to hold a lot of the world. White, white that isn't ours to carry.
So give your shoulders full permission to soften. Now. To lay down the baggage that isn't for them to bear.
If you notice any resistance arising, or a mind that argues as to why your stress and holding is justified, bear witness to those inner voices just with care, compassion and curiosity. Soften the impulse to argue back and resist the urge to force relaxation is nothing to force here. Instead, let your thoughts know that you see and hear them.
Let them know you'll tend to them and dialog. With them at another time. But in this space, in these quiet moments before sleep, there's really nothing you need to hold on to.
And instead of pushing anything away, open the natural, effortless softening. That's already underway. Use your breath to assist you here.
Each exhale, a gentle reminder to let go. Your shoulders surrender any weight or heavy baggage they've been carrying. As this gentle energy of awareness expands into your heart and chest.
Take a few slow, steady breaths into your heart center. With each inhale, your heart fills with universal love and support. And with each exhale, it softens and surrenders.
Your heart is deeply nourished by each breath cycle, energetically and emotionally restored as you breathe in. Releasing as you breathe out. Restored.
On the inhale. Breathe on the exhale. Tension melts away from your chest.
And from your upper back as well. Your shoulder blades soften any knots of discomfort dissolving into your bed. Like a gentle stream, your loving, relaxed awareness travels from your shoulder blades to your upper arms.
Your biceps relax. Your elbows relax. And your forearms surrender as well.
Becoming heavier and heavier. Melting into your mattress. This gentle current of loving presence moves through your wrists.
And into your hands. Ease and relaxation. Stretching all the way to each fingertip.
Feel your hands softening as they release their grip. And what does not serve you is nothing. They need to hold it.
With your neck slow, inhale. Imagine your breath traveling all the way down, your relaxed arms to your fingertips. It soothes every cell, bone and muscle as it moves through them.
And as you exhale, you let go even more. Sink deeper and deeper and deeper. With every passing breath you grow sleepier.
Soon, without even realizing it. Your transition into a state of deep, restorative slumber. Slowly and gently move your attention back up your arms, through your wrists and forearms, your elbows and upper arms.
And stretching across your shoulders and collarbones. Soon your inner eye settles at the top of your spine, resting at the base of your skull. Slowly and gently, your awareness descends.
The length of your spine, guiding every bone and ligament to find ease. Inch by inch, your central nervous system is soothed and restored as your entire spine is bathed by your relaxed, loving awareness. When you reach your tailbone, take pause there.
Imagine your tailbone getting heavier, rooting into the bed and earth below. Then, along with your next inhale, slowly travel all the way back up to the top of your spine. And slowly back down with the exhale.
Breathing in as you trace your spine upwards. Breathing out as you trace your spine downwards. Continue to breathe in this rhythmic way.
While silently whispering I am restored. As you inhale. I am relaxed as you exhale.
I am restored. As you trace your spine gently upwards. I am relaxed as your awareness travels back down.
Take one more slow, gentle breath like this. And after the outbreath, let your attention settle in your belly. Release the words as you simply breathe into and out of this area.
Belly expands on the in-breath and softens on the outbreath. Continue to be aware of any thoughts that pull you away from presence. And if you notice that your mind is wandering away.
Recall your intention for tonight's practice. What was the word you chose as your anchor? Any time the mind wanders.
Send your love. Repeat your word of intention three times. And return to the sound of my voice.
Pick a few more slow, steady breaths into your belly. Soften. Relax.
Surrender both in body. And in mind. Relaxation expands naturally to feel your entire pelvic bone and your hips.
Any tension or tightness melts away from these areas, leaving peace, ease, and spaciousness in their wake. Your tailbone grows heavier and heavier, sinking further into the mattress beneath it. Then you shift your attention to your thighs as they too surrender.
Your quads and your hamstrings. Relax deeply, cocooned by your bed and blankets. Breathe slowly and steadily into these muscles, giving them full permission to rest.
Now. Your loving awareness continues to flow gently down stream, pausing for a couple of slow, restorative breaths in your knees. The bones and connective tissues that reside in your knees are lovingly nourished.
They too, are surrendering to the coming night. Slowly and steadily, your attention travels into your calves and shins. With each breath.
Invite your lower legs to surrender. Now. To rest and restore.
In every cell bone, muscle. Then follow as your attention flows into your ankles. Bathing these joints with care and relaxation.
Every bone, tendon, and ligament are replenished by your caring presence. Finally, this stream of awareness pulls into the soles of your feet. And as it does, give your feet your full permission to surrender, to release and relax into this sleep that's just around the corner.
There is no way your feet need to take you tonight. With your next conscious inhale. Imagine sending this breath all the way down to your toes, restoring and nourishing as it flows in and down.
Relaxing and releasing as the breath flows back out. Sense into your whole body. Where it rests.
Relaxed. Restored. Serene.
And in just a moment, I'm going to invite you to alternate between tensing and releasing the whole body. Tensing, and then releasing. It might sound counter-intuitive to tense the whole body after we've softened it, but this active effort, this deliberate gathering of energy into contraction before letting it go, works as a total wholehearted yielding.
It's a clear and intentional way for the body to say, I'm ready and willing to fully let go. Now. So sense into your whole body, your face, your arms, your shoulders and belly all the way down to your feet.
And with your next in-breath, tense all of these areas tighten and contract your whole body. Before releasing all that tension with a deep sigh as you exhale. Take a full, relaxed breath to rest and recenter.
And then tense your whole body again on the inhale. Giving up all of that stress and tension on the exhale. Take a breath of rest after you exhale.
And then one last time, tighten and contract your whole body as you breathe in. Surrendering from head to toe through mind and body as you breathe out. Allow your whole body to yield.
Complete. Be surrendering everything as it melts into the cocoon of your bed. And as you melt in mind and in body.
Notice the contrast between contraction and relaxation. Notice how good it feels to let go. Why?
You might wonder, do we resist it so often? Savor that embodied feeling of letting go, of being light and grounded, spacious and free. Give yourself over to this deep sense of peace and complete release.
Notice the way your breath flows through you now. It's gentle rhythm is the most peaceful movement. In a sea of stillness.
Your mind is still. Your body is at rest. And all around you is an atmosphere of ease and spaciousness.
Breathe slowly and steadily here for a few moments in silence. Feeling the deep nourishment of each cycle is nothing to do but to rest and to breathe. If your mind wanders, remember that movement is in the mind's nature.
The moment you become aware of its restlessness. Step back from your thoughts as if you were stepping out of a moving stream. Your thoughts are the stream, and you sit anchored on the riverbed, watching quietly in the warm and wise, loving smile.
Thoughts will come. And thoughts will go. You don't need to cling to them more to push them away.
You can simply let them flow down. Stream. Anchoring yourself in the steady earth of the riverbed.
Or in the word of intention. You sit at the start of this practice. Slowly and gently.
You are drifting away, inching closer and closer to sleep. But if you're still with me one last time, draw your attention to the base of your spine, to the nervous system sitting at your tailbone. And as I guide you, your attention will flow along every nerve and cell of this bodily system.
And with it, deep peace will flow through every fiber, every cell, and every thought that resides in your body and mind. So let your attention travel from your tailbone to the base of your skull, blowing gently up your central nervous system. And as it moves.
Imagine your spinal cord being surrounded by a very gentle healing glow, a soft, luminous presence of peace, ease, and healing. Imagine this presence arriving at the base of your skull before expanding into your head, soothing every nerve fiber and cell of the brain. A soft, golden glow pervades your mind, offering ease and well-being to your physical nervous system and also to your thoughts.
Any recurrent or sticky thoughts melt away in this luminous light as ease, spaciousness, and clarity take root. And as your central nervous system finds rest and renewal, this restorative presence expands along every fiber of your peripheral nervous system. It travels throughout your whole head and face.
Flowing through your neck and shoulders. And then moves along every nerve fiber inside your arms all the way to your fingertips. Your arms rest deeply and completely.
From your mid spine. Loving light flows with your awareness across your back. Soothing every inch of nerve fiber.
There. Before slowly traveling down your legs. Inch by inch.
Breath by breath. Bringing rest and renewal. All the way down to your toes.
Your legs rest deeply and completely. Take just a few more breaths to envision the matrix of your entire nervous system. Gently aglow with the pale golden light.
It relaxes your body. And quiet your mind. It guide you into the deep rest and total renewal you've been yearning for.
Gently release the soft imagery of light now as you anchor into your breath. You are nourished with each inhale. You surrender with each exhale.
And as you gently drift off to sleep. Let any thoughts that enter your mind be warm and loving ones. Perhaps noticing things in your life at present that you're grateful for.
Feeling gratitude for the bed you rest on and the pillow beneath your head. Feeling warmth and appreciation for the people who'd and the whole earth that supported you throughout this entire day. And feeling gratitude for all the beauty and strength that resides within you.
Gratitude for your practice. Gratitude for your loving heart and wise mind. And gratitude for your nervous system that knows exactly how to rest and reset when you give it the time and space to do so.
And maybe you call to mind a few people that you care about, friends or family members, strangers or acquaintances. You might also call to mind plants and animals, a beloved pet, or your favorite tree. And as you hold these beings gently in your awareness, send them well-wishes for the same ease and rest you experienced here tonight.
Silently repeat. May you feel the nourishment of each breath. May you be held by deep rest.
May you feel the nourishment of each breath. May you be held by deep rest. Let this warm and care extend out from your heart.
Traveling by way of your breath. To all those you love and care for and to the entire planet. May all beings feel the nourishment of each breath.
May all beings be held by deep rest. Let the words fade away. Now as you sink into the gentle, peaceful rhythm of your breath.
Allow this natural rhythm. To rock you gently. To sleep.
And if distractions arise. As you transition into slumber. Let them be the stream and you the river bed.
Anchor back into the earth beneath you. Or into that single word of intention. You said as we began this meditation.
Breathe in and out with ease and trust, knowing that you are deeply and unconditionally held. Knowing that sweet, restorative sleep is on its way. And until next time.
Good night, my friend. Good night.
